GUILTY OH - Two women & child killed, 13yo abducted, Apple Valley, 10 Nov 2010 #5

[antiquegirl]

The following quote from MH's ex-GF really bugs me:

Quote:
“He choked her,” Davis said. “And she warned us to keep our kids away from him.”

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local...ntric-troubled

WTH? And she had her 8-yr-old son in that home with him? Surely there were warning signs before he choked her. Reminds me of Zahra, Kyle Horman, etc... parents bringing adults into their children's lives when there are obvious warning signs. Maybe I'm wrong about MH's prior behavior around the GF/son, but given his past (and present), it's hard to believe there wasn't something that set off a hinky meter along the way.

A small correction: This was not a quote from MH's ex-GF, but from mouthy neighbour, DD. Third-hand information and classified as rumour. We don't even know if it's true. But even if it is, the ex could have left him immediately after the choking incident.

Having said that, I've seen many cases right here on WS where women continue to live with dangerous men with very dodgy histories, some much worse than burglary and arson. There's no accounting for taste and common sense. At least this one eventually left.

The ex couldn't have co-habited with MH very long. She moved out about a month ago. MH bought that house no more than a year ago. Here is one piece of info that's actually verifiable:

County records show that Hoffman bought the home, at 49 Columbus Rd. in Clinton Township, for $37,500 last November.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/14/14-knox.html?sid=101

 

[crocus]

Here is talk of the truck. Oh I should just stop posting. I don't know anything more than I did two days ago.


Fowler and Donna both noticed a large silver pick-up they had never seen before was parked in front of Hoffman’s house since Wednesday. The truck was removed by law enforcement Sunday.

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/10/11/16/neighbors-hoffman-eccentric-troubled


I guess he did have a truck. Or the use of a truck. Whether it was his own or he took it from (yet another) victim IDK.

These neighbors both acknowledge the fact that this truck was parked in front of Hoffman's for days - from Wednesday until it was removed by LE on Sunday when Sarah was rescued.

LE has not said a word about it.

Sure seems like if it was connected to this case - it would have been shown along with the other three today at the press conference.

 

[SunGirl]

Here is talk of the truck. Oh I should just stop posting. I don't know anything more than I did two days ago.


Fowler and Donna both noticed a large silver pick-up they had never seen before was parked in front of Hoffman’s house since Wednesday. The truck was removed by law enforcement Sunday.

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/10/11/16/neighbors-hoffman-eccentric-troubled


I guess he did have a truck. Or the use of a truck. Whether it was his own or he took it from (yet another) victim IDK.

Maybe he borrowed it from his mom, stepdad, relative, friend? Hope not, what a terrible thing for them to have loaned mh a vehicle, and him to commit crimes while using it. :sick:

 

[snapdragon]

That's a good point, and I've wondered about it since the beginning. A good friend of mine, and colleague, was out one day. We teach in college. Someone called and left a message. The next day, he was out again, and more calls made. I believe it was that day that we called his parents (he was an older gentleman, btw). Eventually, his sister went to check on him and found that he had passed away in bed. I was heartbroken, as were most of us. He hadn't been a particularly healthy guy, but it wasn't normal for him not to show up for his classes. Still, that first day, everyone assumed it was an oversight. So, I wondered why someone would go out of their way to check on a healthy person, immediately upon their not showing up for work? Was there something going on in Tina's life that automatically caused her coworker to assume the worst?

We are conjecturing, of course. another possibility is that TH spoke by phone to her mgr. the same day to say she'd be late, ask a question, etc. There could have also been a call to TH by the mgr for an unrelated reason, while MH was there, and she sounded "weird". He could have made her drink some of those beers, and she could've sounded drunk, which would have been out of character for her when she had to go to work soon. Or, MH could have MADE her call in "sick", and she somehow sounded "off". Only LE knows...

 

[krazyfingerzz]

errrrrrrr - quoting myself.

My thinking was how does a question like this come up in a conversation in the first place? It's not a question that would pop up normally in a casual convo, imo. KWIM?

What's even weirder is that this woman would ask that, and then let her son stay over his house? And let her daughter get a ride from him?

 

[snapdragon]

I wonder if the young Sarah is a diversion....I wonder if he was really after her brother......grown men do not usually have sleep overs with young boys or jump on trampolines etc.....go swimming at the quarry?....make popcorn?..etc etc..is it coincidental that his past gf had a son of a certain age?

Is MH really a pervert that goes after boys?.......just wondering....

also,I can't believe the stupidity of some....who lets their sons hang out with strange older men with a dubious background, apparently no job, etc...

of course I am probably wrong.....but these "sleepovers" just send off alarms....

I got the impression that the sleepovers were with MH's Girlfriend's 8 y/o son. Not unusual, unless you knew there was a PSYCHO living there! The neighbors go on to say that the GF started acting "quiet", having to be quiet so he didn't know she was visiting the neighbors. That's when they began distancing themselves from him (along with MH developing odd behaviour).

 

[tfrohning]

i seriously feel our alleged perp saw sarah at some point in time when he was at mom' house. Than there is the domestic violence episode and GF moved out. I think that occurrence got him going on an idea to grab a young girl. He had to kill the other fanily members to lessen his risk of being caught. Someone can keep a bound and gagged kid in a basement for a long time. I don't think there are any accomplises. This guy has an antisocial personality disorder......he would not want a partner in crime. He's the lone wolf type. Personally I feel the other family members are already deceased. He only wanted Sara---witnesses would have to die This perp is one wierd dude .......but i think he is sane!!!!!!!!!

but why not burn the house down?

 

[Noway]

What's even weirder is that this woman would ask that, and then let her son stay over his house? And let her daughter get a ride from him?

I think the normal reaction to finding out someone has a prison record is to sleuth them, isn't it?

 

[antiquegirl]

Not sure yet how to quote from a previous thread, but here's one from MBLover in thread 4:

Actually the first thing I thought when I saw the dents - was trying to back up or pull forward between 2 trees or 2 posts.

Years ago...the road I grew up on, at the very top of it were no houses and big fields on either side. People would sit up there in their cars and drink. Then, of course, they would drive. They would fly down our little road...miss the curve at our driveway...fly across the ditch and into the next yard. One time a man wasn't so lucky...he wound up losing control of his car after flying across the ditch...wound up in my Uncle's driveway between 2 pine trees...which dented his car exactly like the one in the picture above...
__________________
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

I was wondering the same thing about mh toyota, seems like a pretty nice and expensive vehicle (minus the dents). How did those dents come about, how did mh get this vehicle? Perhaps he (his parents?) paid for it cheap, as it was already dented. Or, his parents cosigned a loan for him to buy it, and then he dented it? Just wondering how a person who is a few years out of prison could own a 5 bedroom house and a decent vehicle, without maintaining FT employment? What gives with that?

It's been reported that his mother bought the house for him. Another report has him taking out a mortgage for $30K. I've recently posted that the house cost $37,500. It's possible that the real story is that his mother covered the down payment of $7,500 and MH got a loan for the remainder.

I've been wondering about the status of MH's biological father. If he is deceased, it's possible that he left his son an inheritance. Maybe this info will come out later.

 

[Noway]

I got the impression that the sleepovers were with MH's Girlfriend's 8 y/o son. Not unusual, unless you knew there was a PSYCHO living there! The neighbors go on to say that the GF started acting "quiet", having to be quiet so he didn't know she was visiting the neighbors. That's when they began distancing themselves from him (along with MH developing odd behaviour).

"It’s crazy,” said D. “He seemed like a decent guy at first.” She is one of three mothers in the room who say their young sons have been to many sleepovers at Hoffman’s house. “He told me ‘he [Hoffman] jumped with us on the trampoline and made popcorn,” said mother Leanda Cline.

C and D, along with SD of Mount Vernon, all have boys who played football with the eight-year-old son of Hoffman’s former girlfriend, a Mount Vernon woman the group declined to identify. D, who said she remains close friends with Hoffman’s former girlfriend, said the woman moved out about three to four weeks ago after an alleged domestic violence incident.

“He choked her,” D said. “And she warned us to keep our kids away from him.”

D said after months of sleepovers, accepting rides from Hoffman and spending time with him socially, his behavior became disturbing.

http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/10/11/16/neighbors-hoffman-eccentric-troubled

 

[STEADFAST]

In my brain, I have her last seen Tuesday from some of the early reports (maybe thread 1?).

I've almost given up trying to follow details because it's causing me to think I imagined things and that I'm "losing it" LOL

Maybe I am.

I've had to step completely off of posting about this case because all of the "facts" keep changing so much that there's now an infinite number of possible combinations of pieces of information that may or may not be true.

I'm just having to sit back and watch my more intelligent and patient WS partners untangle this thing . . . and trust that LE has got the info straight even if the reporters and neighbors can't.

 

[tfrohning]

I think the normal reaction to finding out someone has a prison record is to sleuth them, isn't it?

hmmm only if you a member at crime forum:waitasec:

 

[antiquegirl]

but why not burn the house down?

And why not grab Sarah when she's alone? It makes no sense to have to deal with four people instead of one.

My own theory is that there is a history between MH and one of the two adult women. That one or both let him into that house voluntarily. They sat around, drank a few beers and something went horribly wrong. Maybe keeping Sarah for himself was not the original plan, but an afterthought.

JMO

 

[crocus]

Yes - nothing about Hoffman's bio-father. I thought maybe that was why he went to Colorado in the first place at such a young age (18-19).

Wonder if there is a juvenile record for Hoffman? I know we won't find that out - sealed minor records...........

 

[Leila]

Interesting bits of information on Stephanie Sprang

She has lived at the Magers Rd. address since at least 1996. This would open the possibility that MH knew her from back when he was a teen, before he moved to Colorado. Not sure how long his mother has been with his step-father nor how long they've lived at the Apple Valley Drive address.

Stephanie has been and out of trouble with the law and appears drink (beer??). She has multiple priors under no less than 5 different last names. She also has a civil judgment against her for not paying the lawyer who defended her in the DUI case listed below.

2007 - OVI
2001 - DRIVING UNDER SUSPENSION
2000 - OBSTRUCTING OFFICIAL BUSINESS
1998 - DRIVING UNDER FRA SUSPENSION
1998 - VICIOUS DOG/FAILURE TO CONFINE

She also has had multiple last names (assuming via marriage..)
1996 - Kupiec
1998 - Glancy
2000 - Thompson
2001 - Cochran
2007 - Sprang

Not sure what relevance this has to the case (other than maybe the beer cans were hers/Tina's & not MH's?) but found the info interesting.

I think Thompson is her maiden name. In one of the articles her father was quoted and his surname was Thompson.

 

[nyc]

I've done just a little preliminary checking of some records. Matthew J. Hoffman has a mother, step-father, and a sister who's 5 years older than him, all living in Howard, Ohio.

What was he doing in Colorado?

What about his father? And were his parents divorced or did his father die?

 

[cawebgal]

Interesting video with Criminal Profiler about this case. Brings up some issues other's have addressed. Leaves questions as to what really happened and why Sarah as the target does not make sense.


http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/...yShowLiving+(CBS+News:+The+Early+Show:+Living)

 

[tfrohning]

I've had to step completely off of posting about this case because all of the "facts" keep changing so much that there's now an infinite number of possible combinations of pieces of information that may or may not be true.

I'm just having to sit back and watch my more intelligent and patient WS partners untangle this thing . . . and trust that LE has got the info straight even if the reporters and neighbors can't.

I understand:banghead:this case has got me crazy. the timeline not fitting I think from what been reporting.

 

[snapdragon]

A few things stand out. Presser says he was watching this family.. that is what I originally thought. I did not think he was a "run of the mill" pedophile, if there is one. I DO REALLY think that he knew one of the women at least casually, and they had no clue he was possibly interested in them? Stephanie's father did say that she felt as if she was being stalked. Perhaps she was the target, and he watched her AT TH's house and other places. PERHAPS (and I don't know where Steph's house is), TH's house was more REMOTE. It looks that way from pix. Maybe he invited himself over with some beers... Who knows. Maybe he offered services like trimming trees. Maybe he bugged TH at the DQ. There HAS to be a link. I don't think he was after the boy. I do not think he is gay or has those tendencies. I think he was possibly rebuffed by one of the women, or otherwise told to stay away, and that set him off after his breakup. I think this man RAGES. I think he is sociopathic and has no regard for life of any sort. The dog was prolly kicked across the room as it barked at him. I suspect he does some type of amphetamine drug, or roids. He looks like he works out. His anger gets out of control, as evidenced by choking GF, and the disappearing dogs of his and GF's. The arson in CO shows complete lack for human life. He supposedly was covering a crime, but he could have been "getting back at" the person he stole from or someone else as well. He is a narcissist as well, I suspect. He will tell LE nothing. He prolly doesn't care if he goes back to prison. I think he kept Sarah because she was female, she was vunerable in his eyes- not a threat (a child), and she prolly was completely submissive during his attack, which is a normal response for a child. I think he thought she could at least "keep him company" for awhile.

As horrible as this is, I am glad they caught him. Hopefully there will be enough evidence, even without the others, to put him away for life or give him DP. Otherwise, I think we will have another Dahmer or Bundy on our hands...:banghead:

 

[antiquegirl]

Maybe he borrowed it from his mom, stepdad, relative, friend? Hope not, what a terrible thing for them to have loaned mh a vehicle, and him to commit crimes while using it. :sick:

Or he stole it. Remember he had already stolen a car back in Colorado. Maybe I've missed something, but if LE hasn't put out a picture of this truck, they probably already know who it belongs to. (Actually, I'm pretty confused about all these cars and trucks and where they were.)

JMO